U.S. patent application number 11/585313 was filed with the patent office on 2007-06-14 for device for checking the authenticity of a monetary medium.
This patent application is currently assigned to Wincor Nixdorf international GmbH. Invention is credited to Hans-Gunter Voss.
Application Number | 20070131517 11/585313 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37857110 |
Filed Date | 2007-06-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070131517 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Voss; Hans-Gunter |
June 14, 2007 |
Device for checking the authenticity of a monetary medium
Abstract
A device for checking the authenticity of a monetary medium, in
particular a banknote 1, a bank card or a credit card, comprises a
sensor arrangement 2 with a sensor 38 with a test area for checking
physical or chemical properties of a medium of monetary value, and
a transportation apparatus 3 for transporting the medium 1 of
monetary value past the test area of the sensor 38. The sensor 38
is arranged such that it can move in relation to the transportation
apparatus 2, so that it can scan the medium 1 to be checked by
means of test tracks of different geometries.
Inventors: |
Voss; Hans-Gunter;
(Paderborn, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HARNESS, DICKEY & PIERCE, P.L.C.
P.O. BOX 828
BLOOMFIELD HILLS
MI
48303
US
|
Assignee: |
Wincor Nixdorf international
GmbH
|
Family ID: |
37857110 |
Appl. No.: |
11/585313 |
Filed: |
October 23, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
194/206 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07D 7/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
194/206 |
International
Class: |
G07F 7/04 20060101
G07F007/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 14, 2005 |
DE |
10 2005 059 797.1 |
Claims
1. A device for checking the authenticity of a monetary medium (1),
in particular a banknote, a bank card or a credit card, having a
sensor arrangement (2) with a sensor (38) with a test area for
checking physical or chemical properties of a monetary medium (1)
and having a transportation apparatus (3) for transporting the
monetary medium (1) past the test area of the sensor (38),
characterized in that the sensor (38) is arranged such that it can
move in relation to the transportation apparatus (3).
2. The device (16) as claimed in claim 1, in which the sensor (38)
is suitable for checking optical, spectroscopic, electrical or
magnetic properties of the monetary medium (1).
3. The device (16) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the
sensor arrangement (2) has movement means which can be moved in the
X and Y direction and to which the sensor (38) is connected.
4. The device (16) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the
sensor arrangement (2) has, in particular rotatable, movement means
which can be driven periodically and to which the sensor (38) is
connected.
5. The device (16) as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the
rotatable movement means comprise a rotatable disk (36) which can
be driven by a motor (30) and on which the sensor (38) is
eccentrically arranged.
6. The device as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the
sensor movement is a circular movement.
7. The device (16) as claimed claim 1, in which scanning curves
(12) of the sensor (38) for two monetary media which are to be
checked in succession differ from one another.
8. The device (16) as claimed in claim 1, in which the movement of
the sensor (38) can be controlled by an electronic control unit
(40).
9. A device for checking the authenticity of a monetary medium,
comprising: a sensor arrangement with a sensor with a test area for
checking security features of the monetary medium; a transportation
apparatus for transporting the monetary medium past the test area
of the sensor, and a rotatable mechanism, said sensor being fixed
to the rotable mechanism so that the sensor scans for the security
features along a curved sensor path as the monetary medium passes
by the sensor whereby a relatively inexpensive sensor with a small
field of view can be used to scan a varied surface of the monetary
medium.
10. The device of claim 9 wherein the sensor is driven periodically
by the rotatable mechansim.
11. The device of claim 9 wherein the rotatable mechanism comprises
a rotatable disk driven by a motor and on which the sensor is
eccentrically arranged.
12. The device of claim 11 wherein the sensor is rotated in a
different pattern during the checking of successive monetary
medium.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The present invention relates to a test device for checking
the authenticity of a monetary medium, in particular a banknote, a
bank card or a credit card, having a sensor with a test area for
checking physical or chemical properties of a monetary medium.
[0003] 2. Discussion
[0004] If the monetary media are banknotes, devices of this type
are used, for example, in cash-depositing machines, in
cash-counting machines or in so-called "pay machines" from which,
for example, travel tickets can be acquired or parking fees can be
paid. The purpose of these test devices is to prevent counterfeit
banknotes from being used.
[0005] If the monetary medium is a bank card, devices of this type
are required, for example, in card-reading devices of cash machines
in order to prevent a counterfeit bank card being used. This is
important particularly because criminals have recently been
increasingly able to extract data from magnetic strips of third
parties by using so-called "skimming apparatus" and using said data
on a counterfeit card in order to gain access to the account of the
third party. A device for checking the authenticity of bank cards
is therefore required.
[0006] Physical or chemical properties on the monetary medium can
be checked by a sensor. Such properties include, in particular,
optical, spectroscopic, electrical or magnetic properties of the
monetary medium, which properties cannot readily be reproduced by a
counterfeiter. Properties of this type which can be checked by the
sensor are in general called "security features" of the monetary
medium in this document. Said security features are particularly
those which are present on the entire surface area of the monetary
medium.
[0007] The monetary medium is usually guided past the test area of
the sensor, and the sensor checks that portion of the monetary
medium which is opposite the test area. In the case of small
sensors, a narrow, rectilinearly running track is therefore
produced, in which track the monetary medium is checked for
authenticity.
[0008] This is illustrated in FIG. 2. The region of the banknote 1
which is checked by the sensor is denoted as sensor path 12. Since
only the narrow strip along the sensor path 12 is checked in a
device of this type according to the prior art, criminals have come
up with the idea of counterfeiting the banknote 1 by using only a
narrow strip 14 (hatched region in FIG. 2) from an authentic
banknote and adding imitation material to the remainder in order to
form a counterfeit banknote. If the security feature is a feature
which is provided on the entire surface area of an authentic
monetary medium, an authentic medium can be cut into a large number
of strips which can then be used to produce counterfeit media which
would all be identified as being authentic by the prior art
device.
[0009] One possible option for preventing such misuse involves
providing a surface-area sensor which checks the entire surface
area of the monetary medium. However, a surface-area sensor of this
type is very cost-intensive compared to a sensor with a small test
area.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] In accordance with the teachings of this invention, the test
device comprises a sensor which is arranged such that it can move
in relation to the transportation apparatus for transporting the
monetary medium. Since the sensor is arranged such that it can
move, sensor paths which, for example, have curved, circular or
sawtooth-like geometries can scan the banknote in a two-dimensional
manner instead of the rectilinear sensor path 12 as seen in FIG. 2.
In particular, the respective test track can be selected randomly,
so that the specific test route cannot be predicted. It is
therefore also possible to successfully check the authenticity of
banknotes comprising authentic constituent parts and counterfeit
constituent parts using sensors with a small test area or field of
view. At the same time, the mobile arrangement of the sensor can be
achieved with a very small amount of outlay on design, so that the
costs of the device are not considerably increased.
[0011] In one particularly advantageous development, the sensor
movement is a periodic movement, in particular a circular movement.
A circular movement, in particular, can be realized in a relatively
simple and cost-effective manner which causes little wear in the
process.
[0012] In the case of a periodic movement, in particular a circular
movement, the deviation of the sensor paths for two monetary media
which are to be checked in succession can be produced in a simple
manner by a phase difference in the periodic movement.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] Further advantages and features of the present invention can
be found in the following description which explains the invention
using one exemplary embodiment with reference to the attached
drawing, in which
[0014] FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a test device for
checking the authenticity of a banknote,
[0015] FIG. 2 shows a banknote which is scanned by a rectilinear
sensor path, and
[0016] FIGS. 3 to 6 show banknotes which are scanned with sensor
paths of different geometries.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic side view of a device for
checking the authenticity of a banknote 1. The device comprises a
sensor arrangement 2 and a transportation apparatus 3 for
transporting the banknote 1 past the sensor arrangement 2. The
transportation apparatus 3 is, for example, in the form of a belt
transportation means comprising three transportation belts or
transportation-belt groups 18, 20 and 22 which are each tensioned
between two rollers 24. In the illustration of FIG. 1, the leading
end of the banknote 1 is held between the belt 20 and the belt 22
and the trailing end of the banknote 1 is held between the belt 18
and the belt 22. (The distances between the belts and between the
banknote and the belts are illustrated on an enlarged scale in the
schematic illustration of FIG. 1 for the sake of clarity.) As a
result of rotation of the rollers 24 in the direction of the
respective arrows, the banknote 1 is securely guided between the
belts 18 and 20 on the one hand and the belt 22 on the other and
transported in the direction of the arrow 26 at a speed v.
[0018] The sensor arrangement 2 has a motor 30 which rotates a
vertical shaft 32 about the axis 34 (illustrated by a dashed line)
which is located between the belts 18 and 20. A horizontal disk 36
is expediently fixed to the lower end of the shaft 32, and a sensor
38 with a test area (field of view) is eccentrically fixed to said
horizontal disk. The sensor 38 has a test area for checking
security features of the banknote 1 and has a small surface area
overall. In the present description, the term "test area" refers,
in particular, to a portion of the surface area of the monetary
medium which is situated opposite the sensor and can be checked by
the sensor, i. e., in the field of view of the sensor. As shown in
FIG. 1 the field of view of sensor 38 is considerably smaller than
the surface area of the entire banknote 1.
[0019] The sensor arrangement 2 also comprises an electronic
control unit 40 for driving the motor 30 which causes the
horizontal disk 36 and therefore the sensor 38 to perform a rotary
movement.
[0020] The banknote 1 is transported in the direction of the arrow
26 at a speed v until the leading end of the banknote 1 is
positioned opposite the test area of the sensor 38. The sensor 38
can only check that portion of the banknote 1 which is positioned
opposite the test area. Since both the banknote 1 and the sensor 38
move, sensor paths 12, as illustrated by thick black lines in FIGS.
3 to 6, are produced as a function of the rotational speed of the
disk 36 and the distance of the sensor 38 from the axis of rotation
34.
[0021] Whereas it is still relatively easy to produce a counterfeit
banknote 1 which contains an inserted strip 14 from an authentic
banknote for the straight line sensor path 12 of FIG. 2 which is
produced with a conventional device, it is far more difficult for
the sensor paths 12 of FIGS. 3-6 since they have a more complicated
profile.
[0022] In a further development of the invention, different sensor
paths 12 can be provided for each banknote. In the present
exemplary embodiment, this is produced by a shift in phase between
the sensor paths 12 for successive banknotes. FIG. 4 shows the
phase path 12 for a banknote 1 which has been tested immediately
after the banknote 1 of FIG. 3, that is to say without the sensor
38 having rotated further between the two checking operations.
Since the length of the checking operation (that is to say banknote
length/v) in the exemplary embodiment shown is not an integral
multiple of the period of the circular movement of the sensor 38, a
sensor path 12 which differs from that of FIG. 3 is produced for
the following banknote 1 of FIG. 4.
[0023] However, it is also possible to maintain the circular
movement of the sensor 38 during two checking operations. The phase
shift between two successive sensor paths 12 then depends on the
time interval between when two successive banknotes 1 are input. If
said banknotes are input by hand, this results in a phase
relationship which is difficult to monitor, and therefore an
unpredictable sensor path 12.
[0024] FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show sensor paths 12 in which the angular
frequency .omega. of the circular movement of the sensor 38 has
been increased to four times and, respectively, two times that of
the sensor paths of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. It is clear from these
figures that different regions of the banknote 1 can be checked by
the sensor 38 as a result of suitable selection of the angular
frequency .omega. of the sensor movement.
[0025] In one advantageous development, the electronic control unit
40 drives the motor 30 such that the sensor path 12 covers
predetermined portions of the banknote 1 on which isolated security
features are formed. As a result, it is possible not only to check
those security features which are present over the entire surface
area of the banknote 1 but isolated security features can also be
deliberately approached and checked.
[0026] The electronic control unit 40 can also drive the motor 30
in such a way that the starting phase value .phi. of the relative
movement of the sensor is set, the frequency .omega. of the sensor
movement is varied and/or the direction of movement of the motor 30
is reversed.
* * * * *